A report on the history of the K & I Bridge.

At last Thursday's city council meeting, at which a resolution to "open" the K & I was approved unanimously, planner Scott Wood informed the body's members that he'd be forwarding them a new report on the status of the K & I Bridge, one he said they'd surely find interesting.

And it is.

The report is by Steven R. Greseth, M.B.A., P.E., and I have it because it's being circulated back and forth by advocates of opening the K & I to pedestrians and cyclists, a cause favored by just about everyone with an opinion except Norfolk Southern itself.

Greseth's extensive legal research (he readily concedes it is neither legal advice nor legal opinion) succeeds in asking a whole different set of questions, which might be boiled down to this: How many, if any, of a century's worth of legal obligations is the present-day owner of the K & I now obliged to uphold?

In short, perhaps it isn't merely a question of what we all "know" is right v.v. the use of the bridge to carry traffic beyond trains, but what the current owner has not fulfilled in terms of use -- and what it means.

And that t-o-l-l word is here, too. We used to toss quarters in the slot before driving across, didn't we?

Following is Greseth's summary only. His research is evolving. Insofar as I can bring his findings to light, I will.

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SUMMARY FINDINGS

Clearly, the purpose of the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge, which spans the mighty Ohio River at the Falls of the Ohio, is to connect the great cities of New Albany, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, and to bring their residents closer together. Combined, the object and purpose of the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge Company is to construct, own, and operate a bridge from a point in the City of New Albany, Indiana across the Ohio River to a point in the City of Louisville, Kentucky for both railway and common roadway purposes together.

The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge Company is a franchise created by the elected legislatures of the Great State of Indiana, the Cultured Commonwealth of Kentucky, the City of Louisville, and the City of New Albany exclusively to afford great convenience to their public, by cheapening transportation and facilitating inter‐State commerce. The franchise can be revoked if the K & I Bridge owners do not follow the law.

The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge remains a grand monument to the enterprising citizens of Louisville, Kentucky and New Albany, Indiana who devised and carried out the financial plans for its erection. The alignment of the K & I is along the Great Buffalo Trace, and is of enormous historic and sentimental importance to the United States.

Unquestionably, the modes of transportation across the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge are broad and inclusive, and they shall include railroad cars, streetcars, foot passengers, bicycles, and animals of any kind. Two years of financial statements for the K & I bridge indicate that 22% of earned revenue was generated from rail freight and 78% was earned by passenger transportation, telegraph, and mail transport.

K & I Bridge has a remarkable safety rating. Experts would rank it among the safest of any major bridge in the United States. Safe passage was a major consideration for the bridge designers who used the following innovations to reduce accidents:

• High visual screens along the roadway ‐ to calm horses, livestock, and to keep drivers focused on the roadway and not distracted by trains.
• Narrow roadway lanes, which induce slow driving speed.
• All crossings between the common roadway and the railway are grade separated, which is the safest type of crossing.

The corporation owning, possessing, controlling or operating the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge Company bridge shall have continuously on sale, at all hours of the day and night, the tickets or coupons for those who wish to cross the bridge, and shall keep conspicuously posted a schedule of the crossing fee that may be fixed in pursuance of the enabling law and ordinance. Failure to comply with the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky may result in fines and loss of franchise.

The U.S. Coast Guard is the Federal Government permit authority for the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge Company Bridge. For repairs to worn components like handrail, ornamentation, protective screens, and gates for foot passenger or bicycle access, the Coast Guards categorizes those repairs as routine maintenance and does not require a permit review process.

The rates of toll for all persons who cross the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge on foot or horseback, or in vehicles, except in cars propelled by steam or other power, shall first be submitted to, and approved by, the board of commissioners of Floyd County Indiana.

The United States of America shall have right‐of‐way across the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge Company Bridge. In addition, in case of any litigation arising from any obstruction of the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge the cause or question arising may be tried before the District Court of the United States in the States of Indiana or the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Where questions arise as to the operation of the Kentucky & Indiana Railroad Bridge, they shall always be as stipulated by the Jefferson County Attorney of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 

Nearly all relevant statues for the State of Indiana, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the City of Louisville, and the United States which pertain to the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge, and many historic documents are incorporated in the main body of this report.